Overview

1. What is git and github?
2. Getting started with Github
3. General tips

Git

• git is version control software
• version control software keeps a historical record of changes to files in a git repository
• can go “back in time” to previous versions
• commonly used in collaborative software development to manage and review the integration of code from collaborators

Github

• a website for hosting git repositories online
• free!
• can create public or private repositories
• easy method to share project assets, and integrates with open science framework (OSF)
• loads of additional features for project management

Get your free github account

Sign up at https://www.github.com

Download Github Desktop

Download the version for your operating system https://desktop.github.com

Connect Github Desktop to your Github Account

Open Github Desktop, open the Preferences menu, then sign in with your Github Account.

Keeping (g)it simple

• Git and github are comprehensive tools for version control, and can become rather complicated.
• We will keep things simple and use point and click tools from Github Desktop (and the Github website)
• Alternatively, git and github can be controlled from the command line (e.g., unix terminal, not covered in this tutorial)
• Next, a quick conceptual overview

Normal folders and git folders

Git folders look like normal folders, but have hidden .git files

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[ Normal Folder | [Your Computer | [Folder | File 1 | File 2 | etc. ] [Folder] -/- [Properties] [Properties | Not shared | Local | No version control] ] ]

[ Git Folder | [Your Computer | [Git Folder | File 1 | File 2 | Hidden .git files ] [Git Folder] -/- [Properties] [Properties | Not shared | Local | Has version control | Looks like a normal folder] ] ] FALSETRUEFALSEFALSEFALSETRUE

git folders

git master and branches

git basics

git + github

Looks complicated, but…

Create a new git folder from RStudio

Add new repo to Githup Desktop

Github Desktop (view and manage your repos)

Commit then publish

Publishing to Github.com

Viewing your repo on Github.com

Work on your files

Commit new changes in Github Desktop

Publish them to Github (if you want to)

Changes appear on Github.com

That’s Github in a nutshell

Making new local repos

• “Create new repository” from Github Desktop
• Creates a new git-ready folder
• It is only local to your computer, unless you choose to publish it
• It will be added to list of repositories in Github Desktop

Cloning and Forking

From Github.com, if you have a Github account

Cloning

• You can “clone” anyone else’s public repository on Github.com
• This is like downloading as a .zip, but the repo will be downloaded and appear in Github Desktop on your local file system

Forking

• press the fork button on Github.com
• copies the repo to your Github.com account (in the cloud)
• forked copies are connected to the original repo
• If you make changes, you can make “pull” requests to have your changes merged with the original repo

Github Issues

Normally used to report and address “bugs” in software, but can be used as useful way to have discussions (with collaborators or yourself) about project-related tasks:

• Can “open” specific issues
• creates a discussion thread for the issu
• Can “close” issues
• once the issue has been addressed
• All threaded discussions are preserved, useful as a record of project development
• We used issues extensively in developing vertical
• https://github.com/CrumpLab/vertical/issues

Github Pages + OSF integration

We’ll talk about Github Pages and OSF (open science framework) integration in later modules. Short story is that:

• Github repositories can serve websites
• Github respositories can easily be transferred (piped into) OSF repos, where you can mint a DOI and share your research assets.